Transient characteristics of a fuel cell powered UAV propulsion system

In this paper, the transient characteristics of a fuel cell powered UAV propulsion system are investigated through effective time constants and step command responses in the time domain. A fuel cell powered UAV model is obtained by modifying the Aerosonde UAV model with a fuel cell system and an electric motor. The influence of the model parameters on the transient response characteristics of a fuel cell powered UAV propulsion system is studied through parametric studies. In addition, the linearized longitudinal model of a fuel cell powered UAV is compared with that of a conventional gas powered configuration to illustrate the impact of the significant time delay associated with a fuel cell system.